i must have had a bad download, or a bad iso burn.
i downloaded PUPPY 4.1.1 again, burned the
iso, installed again---
and using alsa setup, the usb audio adapter worked!
the headphone jack must truly be broken/defective.
oh, well- i have an inexpensive laptop that:
wirelessly connects, browses, prints, plays/rips/encodes music...
life is good.

internal speaker produces audio.
when headphones or external speakers are plugged into the headphone jack, the
internal speaker mutes (good.)

as a quick fix, i tried using a usb stereo adapter for
stereo output- it did not work either.
(cmedia cm119 usb adapter; says it works with linux, with no drivers.)

nothing is muted on alsamixer or anywhere else.
also, even when the sound was working, i never noticed
a headphone 'volume slider' on any of the audio mixer gui's.

after a lot of research, and haven't found a fix.
the laptop is under warranty, and everex thinks it is a broken
jack. i really want to avoid sending it back, because i'll
be without PUPPY and my precious laptop for god-knows-how-long.
everything else is working great- i even have a wireless connection set up (awesome!)

any suggestions for the headphone jack, or getting a usb audio adapter to work?